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Shortputladder

Opening (IRA): QQQ March 31st 220 Short Put... for a 2.42 credit. Comments: Adding rungs to my QQQ where I can, targeting the <16 delta strike paying around 1% of the strike price in credit. There is no April yet, so going with the quarterly. Ordinarily, I would go with the shortest duration contract of around 45 days' duration, but that would be the January 27th, where the <16 delta strike at the 250 is paying 2.33 (i.e., <1% of the strike price in credit). Similarly, the SPY January 27th 360 (currently 15.6 delta) is paying 3.15; the IWM January 27th 160 (currently 14.1 delta) is paying 1.43. Consequently, I'm going with longer duration for the moment, although there's nothing to prevent one from selling higher, more aggressive shorter duration delta to get paid.
NASDAQ:QQQLong
by NaughtyPines
Opening (IRA): IWM Feb/March 156/150 Short Put LadderComments: Added rungs in IWM on weakness, targeting the <16 delta strike in the shortest duration paying around 1% of the strike price in credit. I'm doing things a little differently than last year, where I basically sold the 45 DTE weeklies (assuming they were paying around 1% of the strike price in credit), but constantly had a lot of idle buying power, which is not the "maximal deployment" I was really shooting for, so am fiddling with doing things this way instead. Doing only two rungs here, since the <16 delta strike in January isn't paying 1%, and there isn't an April yet. February 17th 156 Short Put: 1.66 credit March 17th 150 Short Put: 1.77 credit
AMEX:IWMLong
by NaughtyPines
1
Opened (IRA): SPY Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan Short Put Ladder... for a 13.52 credit total. Comments: A slightly different deployment approach, dispersing risk across expiries and strikes, rather than bunching up all my risk with multiples in one expiry (e.g., a 4 x October 21st 356). Here, targeting <16 delta strikes in successive expiries paying around 1% of the strike price in credit. You can do a maximum of four different strikes with any given order, so can either leg into these one strike at a time or look to get filled for the entire four leg kit-and-kaboodle. The alternative way to look at laddering out is as an acquisitional strategy where you're looking to acquire shares at increasingly lower prices if they present themselves. Since I'm going to manage each of these "rungs" separately, here's what I got paid for each leg: 3.65 for the October 21st 356 3.24 for the November 18th 335 3.41 for the December 16th 320 3.22 for the January 20th 300 Generally, I'll look to roll out a month at 50% max, whenever that occurs. Alternatively, if monied toward expiry, I'll compare and contrast rolling out (with or without strike improvement) versus taking assignment of shares and selling call against.
AMEX:SPYLong
by NaughtyPines
Opening (IRA): GLD July 16th 145 Short Put... for a 1.38/contract credit. Notes: Here, I'm looking to establish a GLD position and/or acquire shares via short put ladder. Currently, I've got the April 16th 164's, May 21st 155's, and June 18th 149's in addition to this rung. I'm looking to acquire shares, so am fine with getting assigned and selling call against as part of a portfolio largely consisting of broad market (SPY, IWM, QQQ, DIA), treasuries/bonds (TLT, HYG, EMB, AGG), and precious metals (SLV, GLD).
AMEX:GLD
by NaughtyPines
OPENING (IRA): SLV NOVEMBER 20TH 21 SHORT PUT... for a .43/contract credit. Notes: The highest background implied on the board in my options liquid exchange-traded funds at the moment, with 30-day at 51.93%. I'm viewing this as a starter position to replace my GLD for exposure to precious metals, since the implied is generally higher, so you get more bang for your buck. There is no December currently, so just doing a "one rung" here. 2.09% ROC at max; 11.56% annualized. A similarly delta'd GLD short put in the same cycle: .871% ROC at max; 4.82% annualized. This is due to GLD's lower implied at 20.8% (30-day).
AMEX:SLV
by NaughtyPines
1
TRADE IDEA (IRA): EMB JUNE/JULY 94/92 SHORT PUT LADDERAlthough IV is not ideal here (20.1%), this is another one I've had on my IRA shopping list with its current yield of 4.98% and divvies paid monthly. I would go only two rungs at the moment, since there are only June and July expiries currently available, with the next available in September, with liquidity progressively waning as you go out in time. The two-rung in June/July is paying 2.70 at the mid, with a three-rung at the June 94, July 92, and September 90 strikes, paying 5.22. Naturally, a buying-power heavy proposition ... .
NASDAQ:EMBLong
by NaughtyPines